Another Premiership game redeemed by its finale. Everyone knows how competitive this league is, and it is never brought into sharper relief than when a game shackled by such competitiveness reaches its raison d'être – the climax.

Appropriately enough for the sell-out home crowd in the very early spring sunshine, it was Harlequins who seized the moment, sheer force of will as much as anything else sending Tom Williams over between the posts. As a largely unheralded youngster of some quality, he was a fitting match-winner, for Harlequins' latest assault on the top four, which is helped no end by this win over the league leaders, has been predicated as much on his sort as it is on Danny Care and Nick Easter.

Harlequins dominated the game for the most part, but in this league dominance is seldom enough without the breakthroughs that can split such organised defences. In short, without the tries. But, if you do dominate a game, the chances are you will be in a position to turn the screw come the climax, which is what Quins were able to do.

The Gloucester defence had given them nothing all day, bar the early try that had hinted at a much freer game than the one that developed. That score had come in the eighth minute, when Nick Evans scorched away from the halfway line for a brilliant try that Quins were worthy of even at that early stage. But Evans also missed two penalties in the first half, while Olly Barkley slotted two for Gloucester.

Evans retired at half-time feeling the effects of the virus he suffered during the week. Chris Malone was his replacement, and, with a third Barkley penalty putting Harlequins in arrears, he missed two kickable penalties himself late on. Quins fans were twitching in their seats.

But the home team turned the screw some more, forcing Gloucester into tackle after tackle. George Robson, Jordan Turner-Hall, Tom Guest – academy youngsters all – led raid after raid to the Gloucester line. Turner-Hall made the decisive half-break and Williams scooped up the ball and took it over the line to the video referee's satisfaction.

All that was left for Quins now was to defend the final three minutes – because we all knew what was coming.

Gloucester had looked less fluent in attack than their hosts all afternoon, and their final assault on the Harlequins line, although furious, was too ragged to threaten the try.

So a losers' bonus point went to the visitors. Such points may be a dime a dozen in so competitive a league, but this one does at least take them top of the table. That will have to do for now.